The pregnant stepmother of a five-year-old boy who was found severely malnourished and covered in bruises claimed to be unaware of his horrific condition because she had not seen him with his shirt off recently.

Mother-of-six Tammie Bleimeyer, 33, and her husband Bradley, 24, were charged with felony child endangerment this weekend after allegedly keeping the little boy locked under the stairs.

Tammie claims that she never mistreated the child and that she and her husband separated last summer. Her ex no longer lives at her home in Spring, Texas, Tammie Bleimeyer said, but took his five-year-old son to live in Alabama. Mrs Bleimeyer filed for divorce on Tuesday from her husband of two years.

WARNING: DISTURBING IMAGES BELOW

Stepmother Tammie Bleimeyer (pictured on Tuesday) claims that she knew nothing of the mistreatment of her five-year-old stepson (left) who was allegedly starved, beaten and locked under the stairs

Tammie Bleimeyer told KHOU on Tuesday: 'I was shocked. I have never seen him look like that and I have never seen him with his shirt off recently.'

However she doesn't necessarily believe that her estranged husband caused the child's condition.

The 33-year-old added: 'I don’t know what caused him to
look like that. I don’t know if it’s a health issue or something else
like that. I don’t want to be like everyone else and assume
the worse.'

Police discovered a locked closet with
a mattress at the Bleimeyer home after being called following a disturbance last
Thursday between Bradley Bleimeyer and his 16-year-old stepson.